The latest from London: Bad news is good news

In London, the FTSE 100 is up to a good start today, trailing Asia and Wall Street. Investors’ worries that tapering from central banks could happen sooner-than-expected eased after several indicators showed that economic recovery was slowing down.

This brings hopes to investors ahead of the Jackson Hole meeting, held Friday, as Jerome Powell could soften the hawkish tone of the previous FOMC minutes. The London index is heading for its 5^th consecutive session of gains, after last week’s correction.

BHP Group is performing well, rising 1.4%. The mining giant recently announced that it is considering selling its petroleum business and that it was in talks with Woodside Petroleum, its main rival. The company is looking to focus on renewable energy. However, S&P Global said the group could be downgraded as the sale of its petroleum business raises its dependence on its iron ore business.

On the down side, Wood Plc fell 2% after posting lower revenues and profits.

Things to read:

China’s crypto crackdown delivers windfall to global bitcoin ‘miners’ (Financial Times)

Hedge Funds Are Hot Again. Good Luck Finding One That’ll Take Your Money (Bloomberg)

Trading conditions in $22tn Treasury market worsen ahead of Jackson Hole (Financial Times)

What We Still Don’t Know About the Fed’s Bond-Buying Spree (WSJ)